


Wax and Wane

by Dreadbeasts



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Bittersweet, Dementia, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Old Age, Old People In Love, major time skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:47:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25013410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreadbeasts/pseuds/Dreadbeasts
Summary: For theRayllum Birthday Bash! Prompt: AnniversaryI'm sorry everyone, this starts sad but ends sweet. Callum and Rayla celebrate their 185th anniversary.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 75





	Wax and Wane

Her knees weren't what they used to be.

Slowly, taking care and holding tightly to the railing, Rayla climbed the small stair that led to Callum's workshop, carefully carrying a basket under one arm. As the years had flowed onward, her ability to keep track of dates had dimmed, but she'd throw herself into the depths of the sea before she forgot that the second full moon after spring's turn was the day Callum had said he loved her.

She reached the top of the stairs and took a few breaths, before squaring her shoulders and striding down the hall. Two half-elves stood guard, twins, blond and square-jawed like their father, crimson eyes like their mother. They smiled widely when they saw Rayla, and bowed.

"Good morning, Lady Rayla," said the one with small ochre-colored horns. What was his name? Aaron? Alan? Alan. Yes. Goodness. 200 years was old for a Moonshadow elf, but not THAT old.

"How is he today?" she asked, smiling warmly at the two of them.

The other brother, the one with no horns and no pinkos (this one was Sevran? Maybe?), shifted slightly. "He had a small fit this morning when we told him he wasn't allowed to go to the top of the Eastern Tower, for his safety. He, ah, might have zapped us a little."

"Poor dears," she said, patting their arms. "Thank you for taking good care of him."

The presence of six primal source arcanums had considerably lengthened Callum's life. Here he was, 199 years old, still alive and in relatively good physical condition for being a solid century older than any other living human. But the human mind wasn't meant to last for that long, and as the years had ticked away, so had Callum's awareness of the world around him.

He remembered sometimes. Dim flickers here and there, but it was like his life was a parade he viewed from above. Some days he thought he was still a man in his prime, the Archmage of Katolis, the wise scholar that would teach any young mage, human or elf alike. Sometimes he thought Aaravos and Viren were still alive, and would spend hours tirelessly re-reading his spellbooks.

Some days, on the very bad days, he thought he was still the young step-prince and was alarmed and confused by the presence of elves and half-elves in the castle. Those days were why she now slept in the next room over. The first time, he'd suffered a heart attack from the surprise, and none of the doctors wanted a repeat of that instance.

On those days, Rayla relied on the 185 years of love she'd shared with Callum to ease the hurt of his fading mind. She braced herself, and stepped into his study.

Time had turned his hair as white as hers, a bent old man. His hands shook slightly, but his artistic talent had remained throughout the years, and his study was lined with sketches, paintings and drawings. His pride and joy, an enormous painting of the royal family he'd done on his 75th birthday, of his mother and King Harrow, Ezran and Aanya, Princess Lita and her wife, Callum, herself, and their own children, hung beside the fireplace. 

If he was up to it, she had a fun plan for visiting Sarai and her family later. Tamrin, on the other hand, was set to visit for his father's birthday. And hopefully, this time he'd bring someone home with him. He was already 120, the boy needed to settle down.

Rayla set the basket down on Callum's desk, filled with warm moonberry jelly tarts, his favorite.

"Good morning, Callum," she said gently, sitting beside him. He looked up from the drawing he was concentrating on, and beamed.

"Rayla!" he said, the lines around his eyes deepening along practiced furrows as he smiled. "I was wondering where you'd ran off to. Sparring with the guards again?"

"Bit too old for that now, I'm afraid," she said lightly, pulling the basket towards them."I brought you some breakfast."

"Mm, is this moonberry jelly?" he said as he lifted the cloth covering the baket. "Barius is outdoing himself."

Rayla smiled tightly. Barius had been dead for more than a century.

"Hey, do you know why there's two of Soren?" he asked, taking a bite of the warm tart. "I know Claudia has been practicing her moon magic but her illusion needs a little more work if she wants to make Soren look like a Sunfire elf."

"Those are actually Soren's great-great grandsons."

"Really?" Callum chewed thoughtfully. "Wow, Soren must be really old."

"Callum, ah... Soren hasn't..."

Callum paused and looked at her, at the worry in her eyes. Eyes that, no matter how many times he saw them, always made his heart thud a little faster. Realization dawned on him. "Oh. I'm forgetting again, aren't I?" Rayla nodded, and he frowned. His memory had always been the thing Callum was proudest of, but lately it seemed like little things stuck and important things didn't. Like most of his friends being dead, and faces he thought were familiar were actually their descendants, removed several generations.

Then, he smiled, and cupped Rayla's cheek in his hand. Of all the things time had stolen, she had remained. They were old now, but to Callum, she was as beautiful as the first day he'd seen her. How many years had it been? He was... how old? He checked in with Moon and looked down at what he had been working on, and remembered. Today was their anniversary.

Deep within his soul, resided six flames, one for each source. He forgot he had most of them, most of the time. Not Sky, almost never the Sky, but the others had come later. Sky kept him agile and his wits sharp, but did little to help his memory. Earth kept him physically strong, and Sun slowed the aging process for his body. Moon prolonged his life, and Ocean kept his mood stable. Stars was the one that eluded him, slipping through his grasp like a salmon. There, but hard to understand. It had been the last Source he had connected to, and the most difficult. And although his mind wasn't able to stay as fresh as he might have liked, he'd spent the time he remembered to do so working on a new spell.

"I made you something," he said with a smile. "Well, I made me something, but it's for you. For both of us." He held up a small star sapphire, and consulted his notes to draw a complex rune in the air. Pink-white, Star magic. " _Meminisse Oblitus_." The rune seeped into the gem, and Callum smiled. He might forget in his old age, but the Stars never forgot.

"It's a memory charm," he explained. "So I won't forget as much. So I won't forget I married the bravest, prettiest elf in all of Xadia."

Rayla's heart surged with hope. "185 years and you still amaze me."

"I'm still working on your other present," he said, turning the drawing towards her. It was a drawing of them when they were teenagers, from their first anniversary, sitting in the Midnight Oasis and watching the sunset. But reflected in the water was them as they were now - aged, wrinkled, and still very much in love.

"It's beautiful," she said, treasuring it. Even if what he remembered waxed and waned, he had remembered their anniversary. She kissed him tenderly, and then stepped back with a wicked glint in her eye. "Since you're in a remembering mood, want to go visit Sarai and the grandkids?"

Callum blinked. "Don't they live in the Silvergrove?"

Oh good, his memory was returning. "I was thinking we could head into town and charter one of those new sky ships."

"Hmm. And how do you propose we get past the strong young Sorens in the hallway?"

"Your memory must not be 100% back," said Rayla, standing and walking over to the painting. "Otherwise, you'd remember whose office this was before you took over." She pulled on the frame, and the painting swung wide to reveal a hidden chamber. "And that there's a secret passage behind the painting."

"Oh!" Callum stood, and hefted his sketchbook over his shoulder before retrieving his staff. "Recreating how we first met - how romantic. There won't be Moonshadow elves pointing weapons at me this time, will there?"

"Do you want me to?" teased Rayla as she helped him over the threshold of the painting.

"Maybe later," he said with a wink, allowing his hand to drop to her bum and give her a light pinch.

"Easy there," she said with a laugh.

Callum pulled her close for an embrace. "I'm so glad I could spend all these years with you.

"You too, sappy prince," she said, tapping his nose. "I'll easily spend another 100 with you."

"Even if I get even more shriveled and pruney?" He pulled lightly on the sagging skin of his jowls, making sad puppy eyes at her.

She giggled like a teenager. Same old dork he'd always been."Been liking prunes more and more these days.They keep me regular."

Callum laughed, then sobered. "And if my memory spell stops working?"

"I wouldn't trade a lifetime with you for anything." She kissed him, and what started as soft and quick turned into something much deeper and more passionate. Not even time could take their love.

"Happy anniversary, Rayla," said Callum, breaking the kiss.

"Happy anniversary, Callum." Her fingers found their familiar spot between his, fitting perfectly as they always had, and the two of them doddered down the passage toward the doorway that led out into town.


End file.
